Detainees in jails, penitentiaries and other penal facilities seeking telephone contact with outside parties such as family members typically use public pay telephones provided by the facilities. Such telephones are located in common areas of a penal facility and provide little privacy for the detainee. Penal officers must oversee the movement of detainees to the telephone area. Officers also oversee a plurality of detainees waiting in line for telephone access in close contact with each other, a situation presenting safety risks for officers and detainees. Prison telephone usage is generally limited to outgoing calls only that are usually collect to the called party and often expensive.
Pay telephones in penal facilities are also limited in number due to space and cost limitations as well as manpower requirements associated with moving and guarding detainees using the phones. The limited quantity of phones, long waiting lines, limited call duration, and supervisory manpower requirements may result in higher financial and other costs to management of penal facilities. These factors also negatively impact detainee quality of life and safety of detainees and penal employees.
Contraband mobile telephones have become an increasing problem in penal facilities, further reducing penal facility earnings, compromising safety and presenting opportunities for penal employee corruption. While penal officials have taken steps to reduce contraband mobile phones, the expanded capabilities of small portable devices have made such devices more valuable to detainees. This has increased economic incentives for penal employees to facilitate the smuggling and trafficking of these devices in prisons.
With a contraband mobile device that has Internet access, a detainee may view telephone directories, maps and photographs for criminal purposes. Gang violence and drug trafficking are increasingly being managed online, allowing persons in penal facilities to continue engaging in criminal activity while incarcerated. Traditional solutions such as blocking or jamming cell phone signals have proven impractical.